Insider Rowing

See the full article located here.

This is an absolutely outstanding article by Gene Frenette of the Jacksonville Times-Union. If you have any interest in sports business in general, and NBA basketball in particular, here’s a real insider’s look at how the Orlando Magic-Billy Donovan deal went down. Mr. Frenette breaks it down day by day, and you get a real sense of how complicated and time sensitive a thing like this is. The article provides a lot of insight on how business gets done at the highest level of the sport…where conversations and courtship mean a lot more than simply combing a resume.

Here’s an excerpt: “Two follow-up conversations between [General Manager Otis Smith] and Donovan advanced the courtship - at least in Smith’s mind - well beyond the blind-date stage. Dialogue moved into what Smith described as ‘foxhole-type stuff,’ specifically how each man expects the relationship between a GM and coach to work and how to resolve conflicts. ‘It’s healthy to have disagreements - that’s the only way we grow as people,’ Smith said. ‘If you agree on everything [with your head coach], there’s potential for the relationship and results to be far worse.’ Something else resonated with Smith that day. He became more comfortable with Donovan as he learned they were in-step on many of Smith’s high-priority items - striving for championships, player-coach communication, leadership and developing younger players.”

Now of course Billy D has since jilted the Magic and gone back to Gainesville, and I’m totally bummed about that because I’m an Orlando native and a big Magic fan. The Magic have been mediocre for years and the potential of Billy D coaching would have generated a huge buzz. It certainly got me excited. Argh.